My ride...

I skipped riding today, even though the weather is gorgeous. After racing a thunderstorm home yesterday (I won!) and then playing some tough two-on-two basketball with the wife&kids, then staying up way too late watching Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson whip up on the rest of the women's gymnastics (their floor routines were spot-on, and just what was needed to clinch the win), I was just too bushed to think about it.

So, perhaps I'll use today to describe the noble steed that gets me to work most mornings these days.

My main commuting bike is a converted 1998 GT Pantera, in a nice silver/grey paint finish. I bought it in college some 10 years ago, and it's spent a lot of time in the garage, till recently. I'll post a picture sometime when I get the chance. I have another bike (a Specialized Allez Sport) for club rides and races, but it doesn't work so well for commuting - mostly because it has no mounts for a rack to carry my stuff.

So, my GT. It is a mountain bike, from the days when suspension was an expensive option, not standard. So it has none. But that's good for a commuter. Some may disagree, but for commuting, which is usually road-riding, suspension doesn't buy much in comfort. Mostly it's just extra weight. And this bike is heavy enough already. Fully loaded, it comes to somewhere just north of 30lbs. It's a very strong frame, with a unique GT-exclusive "Triple Triangle" frame: the seat stays are angled down a little lower than usual, and meet the top tube a few inches in front of the seat tube. This creates a small third triangle in the frame between the top tube, seat tube, and seat stays. This thing is bombproof.

Using a mountain bike for commuting is nice, because the frames and wheels are strong. Plus, the semi-upright stance gives a good view of traffic, but is aerodynamic enough to help with faster speeds and windy conditions. It's a good combo, as long as you lose the knobby tires and switch to a more street-ready tire.

(Warning: Bicycle jargon ahead!)

The geartrain is the original Shimano STX 21 speed (3 chainrings in front, 7 cogs in back) with thumb shifters on the (flat) handlebars and the older style (pre-V-brake) cantilever brakes. I've recently added some "campus" pedals, which work very nicely. On one side of these is a regular flat pedal, useful for quick trips across the office campus in my street shoes, while the other side has an SPD clipless pedal cleat for the ride to/from work in my cycling shoes. These effectively lock the shoes to the pedal, making it easier to control the bike and also minimizing energy loss in the pedal stroke.

(Warning: Shameless plugs ahead!)

The bike is also well accessorized. I've got a rack on the back (PlanetBike Eco Rack) that carries the gear... which usually rides in my "Bug" bag. Under the saddle, I carry a spare tube, tools, and such in a seat bag (except mine has the integrated toolkit). I'm thinking of replacing the bag, though. It doesn't fit very well. My favorite new toy in the seat bag is my new multi-tool, the Crank Bros Multi-17. It was a Father's Day gift. Up front, I've got a CatEye HL-EL530 headlight for those early mornings and rainy afternoons and a Cateye Astrale 7 bike computer to track speed, cadence, time and all those other important numbers. Oh, and I almost forgot... fenders!

Finally, perhaps the most important part, where the rubber literally meets the road, I'm rolling Specialized Fat Boy tires. Faster than Armadillos, they still roll smoothly over all the broken glass I pass on the way to work.

So that's my ride. A lot of the drivetrain parts are old, so it's going to be hard to replace things as they wear out. I'm already planning on its eventual replacement, but I'm hoping it's a long time before that's a necessity. My GT makes for a nice ride.